Man arraigned in domestic assault that left him wheelchair-bound

A 50-year-old man appeared in court in a wheelchair Thursday to face charges he cut his wife's throat with scissors in the midst of a violent domestic dispute last year that led to him diving out a second-story window of their burning home at 10 Meadowbrook Lane in Mystic.

Bryan J. Marshall, 50, now of Chicopee, Mass., was charged with second-degree assault and interfering with an emergency call. His estranged wife, Adrienne Amero-Marshall, attended the arraignment in New London Superior Court with family members, gasping and whimpering when Marshall was wheeled before Judge Hillary B. Strackbein.

Based on Marshall's lack of a criminal record and his limited mobility — his attorney, William F. Dow, says he is a paraplegic — Strackbein set his bond at $100,000 nonsurety, which means he did not have to post any cash or collateral to secure his release. The judge ordered him to have no contact with Amero-Marshall and to stay out of Mystic, where she now lives with family members.

An investigation of the incident is continuing, according to Supervisory Assistant State's Attorney Lawrence J. Tytla. Marshall, who was treated at Yale New-Haven Hospital and Gaylord Rehabilitation Hospital before moving into his mother's home in Chicopee, has not spoken with police about the incident or turned over his medical records.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit prepared by Stonington Detective John R. Fiore, police received two 911 calls from the Marshall home at 10:42 p.m. on Sept. 4, 2013. The husband told the police, "My wife is off her medications." The wife said, "My husband just tried to choke me." Moments later, a neighbor called to say that Marshall had just stabbed his wife outside of their home.

The first officer to arrive found the neighbor standing over Amero-Marshall, who was sitting on the grass bleeding from a neck wound. She said that her husband cut her with scissors after telling her, "We're going to hell together."

Hearing a "bang" and a "crash," officers noticed the second story of the garage was on fire and yelled for Marshall to come out, according to the affidavit. Marshall kicked or pushed the window out, stuck his head and upper torso out the window, pointed his head down, let go of the window sill and fell out, making no effort to "reduce injury to himself" during the fall, according to the affidavit.

Amero-Marshall told police the dispute started when they were driving home from an artist's cooperative in Westerly and she told her husband she felt "unappreciated." The comment angered her husband, who exited the car when they arrived at home, called one of his wife's cats over and threw it through the air. She said Marshall began choking her, and she broke free and went into the bedroom to call 911. She said he took the telephone from her and began striking her with it. She said she fled the home but her husband caught up with her and assaulted her.

En route to the hospital, an officer asked Marshall if his wife had hurt him and he said, "Only mentally." He said he tried not to hurt her and did not recall cutting her neck or setting the house on fire.